Whether your volunteer gardening goals are motivated by Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) guidelines or more relaxed recreational interests, the following titles should address the fundamentals of establishing a broad range of projects, both large and small.

Berlow, Ali. The Food Activist Handbook: Big & Small Things You Can Do To Help Provide Fresh, Healthy Food for Your Community. Storey. 2015. ISBN 9781612121802. $17.95.

Berlow’s book offers comprehensive advice for organizing and building community gardens, as part of its larger subject of food security. Berlow views gardening from a social and philosophical perspective, as a means of providing fresh food to others. Guidance includes identifying local needs, finding potential garden sites, networking and setting up systems for distributing harvests, and tapping into available local programs.

Conner, Cindy. Seed Libraries: And Other Means of Keeping Seeds in the Hands of the People. New Society. 2015. ISBN 9780865717824. $19.95.

This book is part of a movement of community-based initiatives to preserve and protect the food supply by gaining local control of seeds. Conner gives a thorough history of seed saving movements and offers advice for establishing and cataloguing a supply of seeds and keeping the seeds viable.

Faires, Nicole. The Ultimate Guide to Urban Farming: Sustainable Living in Your Home, Community, and Business. Skyhorse. 2016. ISBN 9781510703926. $18.99.

Faires provides a practical education on city agriculture in a range of environments and on small and large scales. She emphasizes the social benefits of shared urban gardens and also covers agriculture technologies, like hydroponics and vertical gardening.

Gattone, Toni. The Lifelong Gardener: Garden with Ease and Joy at Any Age. Timber. 2019. ISBN 9781604698534. $19.95.

Here is a great resource for anyone who needs to adapt gardening to their physical abilities. Gattone offers sound advice on choosing adaptive and ergonomic equipment and staying safe outdoors, plus solid examples of different types of gardens (container gardens; elevated beds) that might be more accessible. She also describes how to modify many garden chores in ways that allow more people to be part of the fun.

LaManda, Joy. Start a Community Food Garden: The Essential Handbook. Timber. 2014. ISBN 9781604694840. $24.95.

LaManda discusses the process of organizing a community garden, with advice on obtaining land, building community relationships, recruiting and managing volunteers, and selecting and tending plants. She highlights positive effects of community gardening, like social interaction and access to fresh food.

Rakow, Donald A. & others. Public Gardens and Livable Cities: Partnerships Connecting People, Plants, and Place. Cornell Univ. Pr. 2020. ISBN 9781501702594. $23.95.

Rakow, Meghan Z. Gough, and Sharon A. Lee examine public gardens’ utility as a means of outreach and suggest that community gardens partner with local organizations that support positive agendas. They offer examples of successes and failures that can guide decision-making and avoid missteps, plus advice on finding training opportunities and integrating manifold components of one’s community.

Raskin, Ben. The Community Gardening Handbook: The Guide to Organizing, Planting, and Caring for a Community Garden. CompanionHouse. 2017. ISBN 9781620082553. $19.99.

Raskin profiles successful community gardens from around the world, from beautification projects in public spaces to efforts to establish sustainable living. He also gives advice for organizing a community garden, from startup to harvest; topics include design, seasonal growing and maintenance, seed swapping, gathering a team, and planning events for publicity.

Schenk, Jim & Julie Hotchkiss. Starting Your Urban CSA. Bold Face: Price Hill Historical Society. 2014. ISBN 9780991410705. $9.95.

As an example of what is possible through community-supported agriculture, Schenk and Hotchkiss offer the story of Cincinnati’s Enright Ridge CSA, which is staffed by volunteers and one paid farmer. By its second year of operation, Enright Ridge was harvesting enough produce to feed more than 100 people for six months. All this was accomplished on less than one acre of land.